1. People who exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty, and who are risk takers, would best fit a company strategy based on:
a. cost leadership
b. innovation
c. a and b
d. none of the above
2. Studies indicate the worker participation rates in suggestion systems _____ in Japan compared to ______ in the United States
a. are about 30 percent, less than 20 percent
b. exceed 60 percent, about 50 percent
c. are about 20 percent, above 50 percent
d. exceed 60 percent, less than 10 percent
3. A worker can explain how his/her work fits into the overall sequence of events in an operation. This is an example of the job characteristic of:
a. feedback from the job
b. autonomy
c. skill variety
d. task identity
4. Which of the following management planning tools can best accommodate quantitative relationships?
a. process decision program chart
b. affinity diagram
c. matrix data analysis
d. tree diagram
5. Important tasks that are accomplished through strategic planning include:
a. gaining an understanding of key customer requirements
b. ensuring quality initiatives are understood at all levels of the firm
c. optimizing the use of company resources
d. all of the above
6. The up, down, and sideways communication done to negotiate and improve implementation of strategy is known as:
a. give-and-take
b. catchball
c. compromise
d. quid pro quo
7. An assessment of the external environment and internal capabilities as part of strategy development is often called:
a. Market research
b. SWOT analysis
c. Valuation
d. Program evaluation
8. Which of the following represent a leading practice in strategic planning?
a. gathering and analyzing a variety of data about internal and external factors as part of strategic planning
b. using measures to track progress of strategy deployment
c. limiting the strategic planning group to the top management team
d. a and b only
9. In the Baldrige criteria, which of the following must be considered as part of strategy development?
a. customer and market environment
b. competitor actions
c. internal resources and capabilities
d. a, b, and c
10. Effectively deploying strategy requires
a. translation of strategy to action plans
b. organization-wide agreement on the strategy before it is implemented
c. trust in lower level managers to implement the strategy as specified in the plan
d. all of the above